Chili
Mar 31st 2011, 8:51 pm
#46
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Re: Chili
If there's one thing I've learnt from this thread then it is that there is no such thing as an "authentic" chilli. It is, quite literally, what you make it.
Mar 31st 2011, 9:11 pm
#47
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Re: Chili
You're right - the only common denominator seems to be that at some point you throw some chili powder at it (or fresh chilis). Other than that, anything goes....
Mar 31st 2011, 10:31 pm
#48
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Mar 31st 2011, 11:20 pm
#49
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Re: Chili
Well if they do Bob then I guess then it's s0d them, they don't have to eat it or visit your house ever again lol!! 
Mar 31st 2011, 11:52 pm
#50
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Apr 1st 2011, 12:42 pm
#51
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Re: Chili
Apr 1st 2011, 5:23 pm
#52
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Re: Chili
LOL well maybe a pot of each variety will calm the waters
Aug 24th 2011, 10:02 pm
#53
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Re: Chili
All the old codgers say that you absolutely CANNOT cook the beans in the chili. It is just chemically wrong! I don't know the science behind it but I've heard it preached so many times from so many people I just accept it as true. If you want beans in your chili you add cooked beans to the chili at the very end. This is easy enough if you are using canned beans. I usually freeze a cup or two of pinto beans when I make a pot anyway - to use later in chili or soups. For chili I include the bean juice and I smash about half of them with a fork (to thicken the broth) and leave the rest whole.
My mother never put beans in her chili. If we were going to have beans and cornbread that was one thing but chili was something else entirely. She didn't use fresh ingredients either, other than maybe an onion, but she wasn't averse to dried onion flakes or powder either. With her it was dried spices (chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper), ground beef, one can stewed tomato, one can tomato sauce, one yellow onion, water, and a couple of teaspoons of flour. Other than the canned tomatoes hers was probably closer to authentic chili than anything you get these days. It was wonderful.
I love cowboy and trail trivia. The cook was probably the most important member of any drive. If he was talented and well established he'd get the same trails with the same bosses over and over again. He'd plant pepper seeds and hearty tubers among the mesquites (away from where the cattle and horses could trample) and harvest them when he came back that way again. You can still find these wild patches across the Southwest US.
My mother never put beans in her chili. If we were going to have beans and cornbread that was one thing but chili was something else entirely. She didn't use fresh ingredients either, other than maybe an onion, but she wasn't averse to dried onion flakes or powder either. With her it was dried spices (chili powder, garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper), ground beef, one can stewed tomato, one can tomato sauce, one yellow onion, water, and a couple of teaspoons of flour. Other than the canned tomatoes hers was probably closer to authentic chili than anything you get these days. It was wonderful.
I love cowboy and trail trivia. The cook was probably the most important member of any drive. If he was talented and well established he'd get the same trails with the same bosses over and over again. He'd plant pepper seeds and hearty tubers among the mesquites (away from where the cattle and horses could trample) and harvest them when he came back that way again. You can still find these wild patches across the Southwest US.
Aug 27th 2011, 8:23 pm
#54
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Re: Chili
This question came up the other day. A talented cook would be in demand for sure but at the end of the cattle drive someone had to take the chuckwagon back to the start of the next drive. Was just curious if there were the equivalent of ferry pilots back then who moved empty chuckwagons as I assume a well stocked wagon would be too valuble to be abandoned.
When the drive started there would be a larger crew (14-15 men) who would generally not be paid until they made it to market. Once they arrived at market, the cowboys would be paid and then go out whoring until they ran out of money. Once they ran out of money they would either look for local work or head back to Texas.
The trail boss would not stay around whoring (not for too long anyway) because they had to get back to Texas with the rancher's money. A large drive would often consist of cattle from more than one ranch so the trail boss was responsible for getting back and dispersing the funds to the various ranchers. They would also be taking back the extra horses and any supplies that they had picked up at the markets - stuff that might be scarce in Texas. The trip back was much faster and would consist of the men who had homes and families back in Texas. The cooks would go back to their own homes during the break between drives or, in many cases, would live out of the chuckwagon on the rancher's property and prepare for the next drive.
Aug 28th 2011, 5:55 am
#55
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Re: Chili
i always have my chilli with rice.
i make it with gorund beef, onions, tomatoes and kidney beans. A friend gave me a new spice mixture to try with cinamon into the spice mix which includes cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and orgegno (and a few other bits i cant remember) and thats a familiy fave now. but always with rice and with grated cheese on the top.
I aldo have a recipe for white chicken chilli thats pretty good too.
i make it with gorund beef, onions, tomatoes and kidney beans. A friend gave me a new spice mixture to try with cinamon into the spice mix which includes cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and orgegno (and a few other bits i cant remember) and thats a familiy fave now. but always with rice and with grated cheese on the top.
I aldo have a recipe for white chicken chilli thats pretty good too.
Aug 28th 2011, 5:56 am
#56
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Re: Chili
I only like Skyline Chili, We eat it over spagetti or chips and cheese.
Aug 28th 2011, 8:06 pm
#57
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